Architecture and Assembly of the Bacillus subtilis Spore Coat

Abstract

In this study, atomic force microscopy was used to probe the coat structure of Bacillus subtilis wild-type and cotA, cotB, safA, cotH, cotO, cotE, gerE and cotE gerE spores. This approach provided high-resolution visualization of the various coat structures, new insight into the function of specific coat proteins, enabled the development of a detailed model of spore coat architecture, and identified several spore coat layers that have not previously been observed. This work also provided evidence that the spores' inner coat is crystalline, with its apparent two-dimensional (2D) nuclei being the first example of a non-mineral 2D crystallization pattern in a biological organism.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 26, 2014
Accession Number
ADA623360

Entities

People

  • Alexander J. Malkin
  • Alicia M. Carroll
  • Marco Plomp
  • Peter Setlow

Organizations

  • University of Connecticut Health Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Assembly
  • Cells
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Elastic Properties
  • Fungi
  • High Resolution
  • Honeycomb Structures
  • Materials
  • Mechanical Properties
  • Microscopy
  • Physical Chemistry
  • Spores
  • Two Dimensional
  • United States
  • Visualizations

Readers

  • Military/Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technology
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.